AMERICA has plunged relations with Britain to a new low by siding with Latin American countries demanding new negotiations over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

Officials appointed by President Obama this week demanded fresh talks with Argentina on the sovereignty issue.

But British diplomats have dismissed the move as “symbolic posturing” of no importance.

Argentina has been increasingly bullish over the Falklands – which it calls Las Malvinas – in recent months as British firms continue to explore the islands’ territorial waters for oil.

A resolution passed unanimously by the Organisation of American States on Wednesday stated the “need” for UK and Argentinian talks on the dispute.

In March US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was accused of dealing Britain “a slap in the face” when she told the Argentine president she supported talks over the island’s sovereignty.

The remarks appeared to shift the American position from the neutrality adopted by Ronald Reagan’s administration in the wake of the Falklands war to support for Argentina’s long-held position. Earlier this year Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner issued a decree forcing ships sailing to the Falklands from Argentina to seek a permit after learning that drilling for oil was under way.

She has also asked for the United States to intervene – and secured backing from Hillary Clinton. A Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday: “The American position is that they recognise the UK administration on the Falklands. There is no change in their overall approach.”

A British task force drove out an Argentinian invasion in 1982 at a cost of the lives of 255 servicemen.